5 ways to invest in your wellness

You may have heard the phrase before: you must invest in your wellness or pay for your illness. This is something our ancestors knew and they worked hard to develop our society over thousands of years with focus on creating cures, finding out how the body works, establishing crops that gave us strength and energy, and trying to always make things better.

Now, we have so much right at our fingertips that the essence of survival has been lost. Not survival like running from a Wooly Mammoth - survival like treating our bodies like reality demands - we only have one life (that we know of) and the goal is to be able to live it to its fullest.

Between food additives, technology creating a sedentary lifestyle, and infectious diseases that spread easily in a global economy, we must take action to create a wellness sphere in our own lives.

ONE: Cut out the Synthetic Fragrances

Almost everything we use has a scent to it - because we like to smell good. The trick is to sort out the source of the scent and how it may affect you.

Synthetic fragrances (detergent, skincare, candles, cleaners, etc.) often use chemicals that prolong scent or amplify the scent. These chemicals can affect not only the room we are standing in, but also our bodies. This leads to increased respiratory allergies, skin irritation, and endocrine disruption.

While allergies affecting respiratory function are huge here, the most concerning to me is our endocrine system. Your endocrine system, put in a basic way, is the network of glands and organs that produce and regulate hormones. So, if synthetic scent and its additives can affect your endocrine system, this can impact reproduction, development, and normal aging patterns.

There are a ton of brands that can help you eliminate or reduce harmful fragrance sources in your home - you don't have to be all woo woo like us and make your own stuff.

Need help finding products for you? Email me at director@solmirawellness.com

TWO: Eat local, Eat Organic, Eat Clean

Your diet is your biggest medicine and wellness source for your body.

Did you read that? FOOD IS BOTH MEDICINE AND FUEL.

What you put in your body matters. There are few gross generalizations I can make when it comes to telling people what to eat because each body is different. What I eat now in perimenopause (you know, when I am not giving in to Doritos and Mountain Dew like I am 12 again) is vastly different than what I ate in my 20s when I was hiking huge mountains and running a ton.

Even so, you can focus on a few different things when you are planning and cooking that will help you eat to fuel and heal.

Find Local Food Sources

Farmers Markets are an incredible source of local produce. Make sure you ask the questions though: do you use pesticides? is this certified organic? etc. Just because it is local does not always mean it is ethically grown.

Farm-fresh eggs are an amazing shift your can make (if eggs are in your diet). Buying local means they are counter-stable for weeks and you avoid the chemical washes used to sanitize eggs for mass production.

Another benefit of local eating? We waste less because farmers and suppliers are feeding your community, not the whole country.

Buy Organic

Organic is more expensive. As someone who was a single mom for 15 years, I get it - sometimes organic and my pocketbook just didn't match. But, I did it when I could.

Organic food - especially produce, dairy, and meat - means that there are fewer chemicals introduced in the growing product, leading to less chance of introducing things that can inhibit growth, affect your immune system, alter brain function, and more.

Can't buy organic? Try to buy local.

Living on a budget? Wash the sh*t out of your produce.

Clean Up Your Diet

This is where a lot of people start - and it is a great starting point.

Cleaning up your diet can look different for everyone (if you need help on where to start, email our nutritionist, Nicole at nutrition@solmirawellness.com), but it all comes down to the same basic principles: removing processed ingredients and knowing your body.

Processed food is everywhere - and in moderation is not that big of a deal for most. The problem comes in the hidden ingredients and consistency of consumption of unnatural foods. Over the past year, I personally started reducing the amount of processed foods - starting first with added sugars, then looking at dyes and coloring, and then shifting to shopping the perimeter at the grocery store.

For the record, you can pry my strawberry poptarts I have once every six months from my cold, dead hands. However, most of the time I make a bowl that has a clean grain, a protein, lots of fiber, and some sort of sauce. My current hyperfixation recipe:

1/4 cup quinoa

1/2 cup ground turkey browned with cajun seasoning

1/2 cup black beans

1/2 cup roasted zucchini

sauce: blended cottage cheese with cajun seasoning

goat cheese

I am not a nutritionist or a dietician, but I will say that that recipe has me full for most of the day, swelling reduces, and my joints don't ache. It took a while to find that combo that works for me, but it is so so worth it.

One big piece of advice: do not overhaul your diet overnight. Take one step at a time. Have a plan. Even the small things can make a huge difference in how your body feels, fuels, and heals.

THREE: Move, Damnit

We need to move more. Our bodies evolved over millennia to move better, get stronger, and produce more.

And now? We sit - at work, on the couch, in the car...and our bodies are not happy (and for those of you under 35...just wait).

I want to emphasize something - consult a medical professional before you begin any workout regimen - especially if you have been sedentary for a while. We want to make sure you can handle what you choose and then start to gradually build.

This isn't about weight loss - I walk my two huskies 3-5 miles a day and can't get a pound to budge (I know, I know - the Doritos and Mountain Dew), but, and I mean this sincerely - if the zombie apocalypse happens I can outrun 90% of the people who are skinny just by genetics.

This is about your heart, your lungs, your brain - all of your internal systems need movement. When we move, our systems FLOW.

Low-impact movement is the most sustainable throughout our lives. Walking, pilates, yoga, and controlled weight lifting will bring you a ton of benefit without activating stress systems and throwing cortisol in the mix to wreak havoc. I am not going to be picky though. You move the way that works for you.

FOUR: Get Your Brain On Board

Mental Health is a huge part of your wellness. You can eat right, move a lot, and reduce chemicals in your life, but if your brain is not on the wellness train, you will be derailed over and over again.

I want to be clear: I have seen a therapist in crisis and I still see a therapist in wellness. The frequency changes, but having my little mental health fairy godperson in my back pocket is the best tool in maintaining wellness.

So often people think that is whack. If I am fine, why am I seeing the therapist? Well, simple - because we can note what is working to make me feel good so when I am struggling we can revisit that and see what is off.

This also plays into a huge part of number five - you have to work on yourself in order to bring joy to your own and others lives. Mindset training (we recommend Bloom in the Wild for coaching) is a major component of mental health.

Our brains do so much for us - it is only fitting to give back and take care of them.

FIVE: Drink the Damn Water

But like clean water and not from a plastic water bottle (I couldn't even touch microplastics in this post because it is so involved). You probably don't need a gallon a day, but you need more than you are already drinking, most likely.

In addition to drinking water, this also ties into the other liquids you consume. I am personally an energy drink addict - especially now that I am unmedicated for my ADHD. I know they are terrible for me, but honestly some days they keep me from raging against the world - and I make an effort to only have one a day (I used to have 4-5, oy vey).

For some people it is coffee - good in moderation, not good in mass quanitites or with sugars/syrups added.

For some it is alcohol - and I really cannot say much other than it is a poison that we choose to indulge in - even I do on occasion.

For some it is diet soda - overloaded on artificial sweeteners but those bubbles are so satisfying.

Whatever your favorite "treat" beverage is - make sure you drink 3x the water. My 12oz energy drink is followed by 3 large glasses of water.

Balance in a modern world.

Start Small, Make Big Impacts When you Invest in your Wellness

Living well likely isn't going to start overnight. It likely is going to start with one small step. Sometimes, when I am starting a new wellness thing, I start small - I aim to drink 100oz of water a day. Then after I get that as a daily routine, I cut out sugar...then reduce caffeine...and so on and so forth.

Wellness does not have to be all or nothing. It can be moderation and intelligent navigation in a world that brings so many easy - but less healthy - choices.

***Clean(er) Living Products we Love: Clean Living